One Iowa Republican who got a private audience with Mitt Romney Wednesday was entrepreneur Bruce Rastetter, who organized a trip to New Jersey to draft Gov. Chris Christie to run for president.

Rastetter rode with Romney to the Des Moines airport yesterday afternoon at the tail end of his Iowa visit.

Rastetter, who lives on a farm in Hardin County, is president pro tem of the Iowa Board of Regents. He has not yet endorsed a candidate.

Until tonight, only one member of the Iowa draft-Christie team had publicly lined up behind a declared candidate: West Des Moines businessman Gary Kirke endorsed Texas’ Rick Perry.

But another one of the seven, Mikel Derby, a partner with Matchpoint Strategies, when contacted by The Des Moines Register Wednesday night said he is supporting Romney.

The others are still sizing up the GOP field: Former state Sen. James Kersten, West Des Moines businessman Mike Richards, real estate developer Denny Elwell and retired insurance executive Cameron Sutton.

But today’s one-on-one get-together – and now Derby’s endorsement – may signal that the other unaligned Iowans on the draft-Christie team will soon endorse Romney.

Christie himself has already aligned with Romney.

In early October, Christie ended months of presidential buzz by declaring with finality that he wouldn’t enter the 2012 race. He has said he will campaign for Romney in Iowa before the Jan. 3 caucuses.